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Review
. 2011 Dec;44(3):359-73.
doi: 10.1007/s12035-011-8211-3. Epub 2011 Oct 4.

Functions of noncoding RNAs in neural development and neurological diseases

Shan Bian  1 , Tao Sun
Affiliations
Review

Functions of noncoding RNAs in neural development and neurological diseases

Shan Bian et al. Mol Neurobiol. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

The development of the central nervous system (CNS) relies on precisely orchestrated gene expression regulation. Dysregulation of both genetic and environmental factors can affect proper CNS development and results in neurological diseases. Recent studies have shown that similar to protein coding genes, noncoding RNA molecules have a significant impact on normal CNS development and on causes and progression of human neurological disorders. In this review, we have highlighted discoveries of functions of noncoding RNAs, in particular microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, in neural development and neurological diseases. Emerging evidence has shown that microRNAs play an essential role in many aspects of neural development, such as proliferation of neural stem cells and progenitors, neuronal differentiation, maturation, and synaptogenesis. Misregulation of microRNAs is associated with some mental disorders and neurodegeneration diseases. In addition, long noncoding RNAs are found to play a role in neural development by regulating the expression of protein coding genes. Therefore, examining noncoding RNA-mediated gene regulations has revealed novel mechanisms of neural development and provided new insights into the etiology of human neurological diseases.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A list of representative miRNAs that function on neural stem cell (NSC) self-renewal, neuronal differentiation and neuronal maturation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A feedback regulation of miRNAs and their target genes. Protein coding genes inhibit (A, B, D) or promote (C) biogenesis of miRNAs, while miRNAs post-transcriptionally silence output of these proteins.
Figure 3
Figure 3
miRNAs, such as miR-124 (A), miR-9 (B), miR-134 (C) and miR-137 (D), control proliferation and apoptosis of neural stem cells and progenitors, neuronal differentiation, migration, and maturation and synaptogenesis by targeting various genes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Regulatory functions of representative long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) on expression of protein coding genes. A. Nkx2.2 antisense (Nkx2.2as) is an antisense lncRNA to Nkx2.2 gene and promotes Nkx2-2 expression. B. Evf2 is transcribed from the intergenic region between the Dlx-5 and Dlx-6 loci, and is overlapped with Dlx-5/6 enhancer i (ei) and enhancer ii (eii) sequences. Evf2 acts as a transcriptional co-activator of Dlx-2 and activates the Dlx5/6 enhancer. C. Sox2 overlapping transcript Sox2OT is a lncRNA containing Sox2 gene and shares the same transcriptional orientation with Sox2. Sox2OT is expressed in the neurogenic region of the adult mouse brain
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